The Return to the Trail
One of my biggest flaws is my inability to say NO! Most of the time however only good things come of this. By saying YES I certainly feel that I get more out of life and I never feel that I am missing out on anything. In particular I am rubbish at saying No to anything running related – whether it is a social run, a training run, a race or a weekend away. As my other half often says I love running more than him (which for the record is certainly not true).
This meant that when I received a text from my friend Clare on Friday asking me to go trail running at the weekend it put me in a dilemma. I had not been trail running since my fall in September. This has taken place on a solo trail run. I had also only been running again for about four weeks on very flat road. The flip side however is that the physio had told me I could probably give trail a go as long as I had my ankle support on.
This is certainly the first time I had hesitated in saying Yes…. But after mulling the pros and cons over for a few moments I realised that this was the perfect time to re-start my trail running career. I would get to test the ankle out while running with some of my closest running buddies who I knew would all look after me. The group of five of us are of mixed ability, but the quickest of the group are really supportive – ensuring that we adapt the pace, take breaks and also encourage us to keep going when times get tough. If this group could get me through 33 miles in the New Forrest last summer they could certainly get me round 7 ½ miles here in Suffolk – plus after all – it wasn’t as though we have had much rain in Suffolk and there certainly wouldn’t be too much mud to slip on!
CUE…… THE HEAVENS OPENED AND RAINED FOR MOST OF FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING!
Saturday morning arrived and I have to admit I was rather nervous. What if my ankle hurt? What if the mud was so bad I slipped over again? What if I couldn’t keep up with the others? What if I held everyone up? Can I really run 7 ½ miles off road still? So many questions, but not enough time to worry about them as Clare picked me up at 7.45 to get the show on the road. By way of background we currently live in the town centre – but I find it amazing that we can be out in the countryside within five minutes and out in to the depths of Suffolk within ten minutes. It didn’t take us long to get out to our starting destination – a little place called Waldringfield. This is a small village on the east coast of Suffolk. It is often renowned for the public house called the Maybush (which is super yummy).
Clare had planned the route and although I have run and walked some of the area before I was clueless as to where we were going. As with all adventures we had the starting selfie to prove we were all in attendance before heading off down a small footpath! The biggest problem I seem to have at the moment is that I need to concentrate more when I run. Concentration is required so I actually pay attention to where I am putting my feet so I don’t topple over again! This however is unusual as I had got used to drifting off and admiring the scenery. I think it will take some time to get back to this stage again.
Despite having to be a bit more careful I still got to appreciate some amazing views. Within minutes we were running through a bright yellow field of crops – all glimmering in the sun – despite the grey clouds looming in the distance. As a group we all get a bit over excited about being out on the trails. We are surrounded by amazing views and great photo opportunities. It is no surprise therefore that our actual trail run gets abruptly stopped so we can all start taking snaps! We often come back from a trail run with so many pictures people don’t actually believe we have run anywhere.
I have included a number of photos from today which sets out the type of terrain we covered. From the small footpaths we crossed fields ablaze with colour down to the river side. Here we had beautiful views of the river and even tackled some sand running before filtering back into the woods. The route was slightly undulating and I have attached my STRAVA record so the route is accessible to others. There were however a lot of twists and turns (not always signposted) so it would be good to have some knowledge of the area before heading out.
You will see from the photos we had a great morning run. The weather was glorious and the best news ever was my ankle didn’t even hurt a bit. It took to off road running again really well. I did feel my confidence building the longer we were out, but equally I am wary of becoming complacent and not paying attention. I think it is going to be a fine balance for a while especially as the next few months will see an increase in mud, ice and puddles!
Looking forward to the next adventure! Which is sure to come soon as every time we go out together as a group we seem to say YES to even more events! This is great though as it means I have so much more to still look forward to.